Beginner Spread Better

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buffting

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given the volatile markets i have decided to look at spread betting as a way to make some additional money - after making a bit on the stock markets.

I have joined IG index the limited risk account because at this stage I think I want guaranteed stops before i get better.

Can anyone provide any other recommendations on platforms for beginners? Pro's et Cons etc...

Thanks,
 
Volatility as a reason for deciding to trade isn't a good move. You may think it's plenty of opportunities to make money; the reverse is usually true for newbies.
 
Absolutely. I stopped trading for over a week! Volatile is a polite way of say big, unpredictable moves...
 
As a short term intraday trader, I thrive on volatility. I make more money when there is a bit of chaos in the market. For a speculator, these are ideal conditions. So depending on your trading style, volatility can be a good thing.
 
PipStar said:
As a short term intraday trader, I thrive on volatility. I make more money when there is a bit of chaos in the market. For a speculator, these are ideal conditions. So depending on your trading style, volatility can be a good thing.
Click to expand...

Which is fine if you're a seasoned trader but not if you're a beginner and is what the markets have attracted the OPer for. (If that makes sense.)
 
volatility = plentiful opportunities providing good risk management is applied which i intend to do with guaranteed stops - for amateur i think necessary even though expensive.

so platforms anyone???
 
shadowninja said:
Volatility as a reason for deciding to trade isn't a good move. You may think it's plenty of opportunities to make money; the reverse is usually true for newbies.
Click to expand...

I agree. Been doing this for about 2 years now and although I made quite a bit in the last couple of months, I'm out of the game at the moment as a lot of the volatility is making me a bit nervous and that's when mistakes are made. It's not that I can't see the trade, I just don't trust myself to risk no more than I should. So taking a break right now.
 
Platforms. :D

All the spreadbetting platforms are much the same. Mine is still Fins, even after all the stick that they have been gettng recently. But I have seen discontented posters moaning about their respective CB companies on other threads, too.
Fins lagged their charts by 15 to 37 minutes a few days ago but they have been spot on these last couple of days. I think that it could have been merger problems.

One thing that I would watch with all of them. You have no protection if they go bust. So keep accounts at minimums while all this is going on and be warned, from me, that they could go bust.

Split
 
Bladerunner said:
unless you have access to real prices

+ Hr tf only unless you like to get slapped that is

Bias is huge at the moment = spreads in effect 5-15 points when its beating about in 5 min ranges

Andy
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Hi Andy,

I've been short SP for some time. Am in profit and hope to be able to leave a stop in profit for this afternoon, while I'm earning REAL money by the sweat of my brow. :) I can't imagine anyone wanting to hold anything over this weekend so am hoping for a selloff. At worse, it will be a breakeven trade.

Split
 
I like IG Index.

Forget guaranteed stop loss. I've been slipped about 4 times this year for maybe 20-40 pips at a time. Easy enough to earn that back and more given the GSL "fee" you pay in the spread.
 
I also think IG is the best and that guaranteed stop losses are not needed - particularly in the 24hr markets. The premium far outweighs the advatantage. I almost always get the price I click even in fast moving markets and my stops and limits get filled at the exact price.
 
shadowninja said:
Volatility as a reason for deciding to trade isn't a good move. You may think it's plenty of opportunities to make money; the reverse is usually true for newbies.
Click to expand...

Shadow I respect and value your opinion. However, on this I have to disagree. The volatility at the moment is providing amazing opportunities for profit. I've never seen the dow rally 100 points, drop 200 push back up 75 before dropping another 200. The intra day swings are simply in describable and a great deal of points/cash can be made getting in to these.

Agree with the other guys, I use IG and NEVER use guaranteed stop orders. Even in these markets my stops are filled on EVERY occasion. They are an excellent operation when compared to some of the other operators out there.
 
IG is good so far , they give me price improvement sometimes check the attachment , in the right bottom of my screenshot you can see that they gave me 35 point price improvement on the DOW !! Anyway i used GSL this time cuz anything can happen over the weekend ...
 

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ceydababy said:
Shadow I respect and value your opinion. However, on this I have to disagree. The volatility at the moment is providing amazing opportunities for profit. I've never seen the dow rally 100 points, drop 200 push back up 75 before dropping another 200. The intra day swings are simply in describable and a great deal of points/cash can be made getting in to these.
Click to expand...

I think you misread what I wrote... I am not talking about seasoned traders like yourself. I expect experienced traders to be laughing. Newbies who always get interested when they hear about the volatility or how prices are shooting up or down on the news (think... gold, oil, Northern Rock, buy-to-let houses) may make money purely based on luck but there's a good chance they'll give it all back.
 
shadowninja said:
I think you misread what I wrote... I am not talking about seasoned traders like yourself. I expect experienced traders to be laughing. Newbies who always get interested when they hear about the volatility or how prices are shooting up or down on the news (think... gold, oil, Northern Rock, buy-to-let houses) may make money purely based on luck but there's a good chance they'll give it all back.
Click to expand...

I agree. If you're new then it's flippin dangerous with these swings. Well with regard to Northern Rock the punters who were pilling in when it was 90p hoping for a recovery have well and truly put their money to sleep.

As well as the thousands who thought lets mortgage ourselves up to the max get 3 flats and rent them all out. Property prices can only ever go up....WRONG ! Now a lot of them are in the s h i t and realising if making money was that easy everyone would be doing it.

I do love how a lot of them are now crying foul as they watch their cash **** down the drain and the wheels fall off their get rick quick (easy) idea. The Icelandic bank crowd should look at themselves too. It's not down to me or other UK tax payers to bail out people who put their life savings in a FOREIGN BANK to gain an extra 1% of interest.

I would imagine if you took the percentage of losers from the above situations a very high percentage would be new to property investing and new to stock market speculation. The Icelandic savers just very low on IQ.
 
I don't think that it was a foreign bank anymore than Abbey National is.

The point is that these banks were permitted by the British government to take deposits from UK savers. Some of these savers were councils.

Now, Ireland and Germany have started the 100% protection guarantee and thousands of foreign , includng British, depositors are switching their savings to those countries, causing Brown to make 100% guarantees, as well. Brown is doing nothing deliberately generous or warm-hearted to us. If he didn't do it, the UK banks would be without depositors.
 
Last edited:
Splitlink,
The advice you gave to the OP is incorrect.
If a SB firm does go under, all client money is covered - The FSA stipluate that it has to be segregated!

Ian
 
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